Assessment means Under Income Tax

Income tax assessment is estimation for an amount assessed, while paying Income Tax by assessee himself or by income tax officer.

Scrutiny assessment u/s 143(3) are popularly known as regular assessments. The income tax department authorizes an income tax officer or a person of higher rank, to conduct this assessment.

Major Reasons for Scrutiny Assessment

• The assessee has taxable income but has not yet filed his return.
• The assessee have either understated his income or claimed excess allowances or deductions.
• The assessee has failed to furnish reports on international transactions, where he is required to do so.

New e-Assessment Scheme 2019

The Govt. has notified a new e-Assessment or Faceless Assessment this year, under which the whole assessment procedure will be carried on by using information technology in various stages of assessment.

Benefits of e-Assessment

• No need of personal presence before Tax authorities
• Random selection of Assessing officer
• Makes the assessment more Hassle free and transparent for the Assessee.

Structure of New Assessment Scheme

Flow of Information Involved in E-assessment procedure :

Note :

The National e-assessment Centre will assign the scrutiny case randomly to any Regional e-assessment Centre through an Automated Allocation System.

Steps Involved in E-assessment procedure:

• The scrutiny notice will be issued to the individual under section 143(2) if he has under-reported his income or over-stated losses and all the communications will be carried on electronically.
• The individual will have to reply within 15 days from the date of receipt of notice through his registered account.
• The response shall be considered submitted once individual has received the acknowledgement from the National e-assessment Centre.
• Individual taxpayers would not be required to appear either personally or through any authorized representative in relation to the proceedings related to the scheme before income tax authority, NEAC or REAC or any unit set up under the scheme.
• When any regional assessment unit required assistance from verification unit or technical assistance from technical unit, then such requests will be processed through automated allocation system.
• If further information or documents is required from the taxpayer, then such request first has to be made to the National e-assessment Centre by the regional assessment unit.
• The regional assessment unit will make a draft assessment order and send it to the National e-assessment Centre.
• The National e-assessment Centre will examine the draft received in accordance with the risk management strategy specified by the CBDT.
• Assessee can make an appeal to NEAC and the same will be investigated by any regional assessment Unit.
• The National e-Assessment Centre may at any stage of the assessment, if it considers necessary, transfer the case to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction over such case.

Conclusion :

The New E-assessment Scheme is still in Testing Phase and it will be implemented only on few selected cases (Selected by IT Dept) this year and it is expected to be made available for everyone in coming Assessment Years.

Disclaimer:"The information contained herein is only for informational purpose and should not be considered for any particular instance or individual or entity. We have obtained information from publicly available sources, there can be no guarantee that such information is accurate as of the date it is received or it will continue to be accurate in future. No one should act on such information without obtaining professional advice after thorough examination of particular situation."